Popular Narrative Ballads of Modern Egypt

This book is the first to survey a branch of Arabic folk literature virtually unknown in the West. Cachia, an academic Arabist who has spent many years in Egypt, first records basic facts about the development of the art of narrative balladry, its practitioners, and their styles and priorities. He then presents numerous integral texts of ballads, meticulously transcribed and translated, ranging from erotic tales, to fables, religious legends, and accounts of contemporary events. A graphic demonstration of elite are reflected in the art of the masses, this book will interest linguists, literary historians, folklorists, and social and political scientists.